On the final night of the Hot Wheels Collectors Nationals Convention in Lexington, Kentucky, collectors lined up to attend the Mattel presentation, and to grab their Finale Exclusive Model. The doors opened, and as the collectors streamed in, one each of the Finale Model was handed to each attendee.

Within seconds, phones were out, photos were shot, and posts were made all over social media. The Finale Exclusive was the Greenwood Corvette. I wasn’t there. I was back working on some things, and I showed up later right before the presentation. But how did I know the word was out on the Greenwood?

Because many friends, and many Lamley readers, saw the posts, and messaged me to ask how stoked I was. Obviously we have made it very clear that the Greenwood Vette is one of my favorite Hot Wheels castings ever, because we heard from a lot of you. If anything, it is nice to know that many of you actually read my long-winded diatribes here at Lamley.

So was I stoked about the Greenwood Finale Car? Hell yes I was! I will never tire of the outlandish 70’s racing Vette, and hope to see it somewhere every year. Whether it is in the basic range, or as a Convention Car, I will make sure to get one. (By the way, look for the Greenwood to show up somewhere else this year, so that will make two.)

So yes, the Greenwood could be vomit-orange with a My Little Pony motif, and I would still add it to the collection. But thankfully I don’t have to do that. This one is a beaut. The use of Hot Wheels racing track in the design is brilliant, and its swirling lines complement the curves of the Greenwood. It is such a great choice .

And fits in nicely with what turned out to be a great crop of Convention models, most notably the Turbine Time, which more and more collectors are learning to appreciate, and subsequently pursue on eBay. We still have three to showcase, and that will happen later this week.

Incidentally, do you know what happens to the Finale models are aren’t handed out? They are not saved for a future HWC sale, nor are they stored for a future giveaway. They are taken back and completely stripped, making sure that only the attendees at the event get the model. Cool deal.

Of course that doesn’t mean you can’t get them on the secondary market. You most certainly can. And if you do, you won’t be disappointed…